Research Design
In undertaking this research work, a descriptive research design will be implemented to provide explanation to the criminal trend observed among the young people. In this case, the research will aspire to provide answers to the questions arising from the observed trend in which young people are getting involved in criminal activities. In this regard, the research will try to give reasons to why young people engage in criminal activities.
To realize the intended objectives, the research design will employ various data collection methods which will enable the collection of reliable information for analysis. The descriptive research design will rely on interviews, questionnaire administration and surveys in getting information that is useful for the study (De Vaus, 2001).
Interviews will be conducted in the crime prone areas which will be identified after an analysis of data from criminal agencies in the United States. This will ensure that relevant information is easily gathered from the people who are most affected by the incidences of crime from the young members of the society.
Apart from the interviews, questionnaires will be distributed to a sample population to enable the gathering of more information related to crime committed by the young people. In addition, surveys will be conducted to shed more light on the aspect of crime among the young people. Therefore, this research will have to employ various tools of data collection including interviews, questionnaire and survey (De Vaus, 2001).
Data Analysis Procedures
This study will rely on qualitative data analysis in synthesizing the findings of the study. It is worth noting that qualitative data analysis is critical when aspiring to answer the how and why questions (Nolan, 1994). This analysis does not involve statistics which is the case in quantitative analysis.
It has been established that qualitative research is used to study individuals’ attitudes, behaviors, value systems and aspirations among other social aspects (Lewis-Beck, 1995; Nolan, 1994). Since the focus of this study is to elaborate on the aspect of juvenile criminality, qualitative analysis can be identified as the most appropriate method to analyze the collected data in this study.
After data has been collected from the interviews, questionnaires and surveys, analysis of the data will begin. First of all, the data that will have been collected will be sorted out before being made available for analysis. The sorting will ensure that irrelevant data that may have been collected is eliminated in the course of analysis. This also enables the research to achieve its intended objectives (Hardy and Bryman, 2009).
Results
Descriptive Results
After a critical analysis of the data that was collected, it was found out that criminal behavior among the young people was affected by various aspects. First of all, it was revealed that high school dropout rate was closely related to criminal behavior among young people. In this case, most of the young people who did not complete high school education often engage in criminal activities to fend for themselves.
These individuals are not capable of securing decent employment as they do not have the necessary skills required for them to secure good employment. Given that these young people are locked out of the lucrative job market, they easily join the criminal gangs to make their ends meet. Such young people easily fall victims to peer pressure whereby they are attracted to the short-term benefits that accrue from criminal behavior (RoucÌŒek, 1970).
Peer pressure has been identified as one of the elements that lures the youths into committing crime. It has been established that delinquent behavior is prone to happen in a social setting. In such social settings social norms that enhance responsible behavior are usually broken.
In this case, most of the rules and regulations preventing individuals from engaging in criminal behavior lose significance. Members of the gangs often engage in criminal activities as a response to the traumatizing and destructive changes that are taking place in the society (Burfeind and Bartusch, 2011).
Poverty has also emerged as one of the main causes of criminal behavior among the youths. The gap between the haves and have-nots has continued to widen leading to what has been referred to as ‘the unwanted others.’
There has been the emergence of welfare systems to cater for the poor in the society, but this has not addressed the problem related to humble socio-economic status in the society and the ever-rising dependence of the low income earners on social security arrangements. This has led to the emergence of a ‘new poor’ class (Rouček, 1970).
It has reported that in neighborhoods which are home to moderate and low income earners, they are highly associated with criminal behavior. Here, the young people engage in criminal activity due to poor conditions in which they live.
It can be argued that the main reason for taking part in criminal activities is to enable the young criminals to have something to eat since their economic condition is regarded to be pathetic. Engaging in criminal activities is seen as the easy way out for these young offenders in making ends meet (Burfeind and Bartusch, 2011). As much as this can be despicable, it is the explanation that can be given to the findings of this undertaking.
Another aspect that was revealed is that child neglect and abuse can have an impact on the criminality of young people. From the statistics that were gathered from the criminal justice departments, it was revealed that most of the youths who engaged in criminal activities had a troubled past.
They were subjected to neglect and abuse by their families and care givers, and this pushed them into criminal activities. It is true that when children are growing, they need to be taken care of and nurtured to embrace the established societal norms (Burfeind and Bartusch, 2011).
Conclusion
From the data and analysis provided, it can be established that juvenile delinquency and engagement in criminal activities is determined by various factors. The factors identified as key to the engagement of young people in criminal activities include high school dropout rate; poverty; and child abuse and neglect.
These aspects contribute to increased incidences of violent crimes among young people. Therefore, it can be asserted that addressing elements which have been associated with criminal activities among young people will play a vital role in curbing juvenile delinquency.
It is important to curb the rate of high school dropout to enable the young people gain necessary skills needed in the job market. Also, it is important to ensure that the issue of poverty should be addressed so as to accord the young people at least an average lifestyle. Lastly, the families and caregivers need to be taught about the importance of providing the young people with an appropriate environment for their growth. Child neglect and abuse should be avoided to enable the young people grow in a righteous manner.
References
Burfeind, J. W. and Bartusch, D. J, 2011, Juvenile delinquency: an integrated approach, Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
De Vaus, D A, 2001, Research design in social research, London [u.a.]: SAGE.
Hardy, M A and Bryman, A, 2009, Handbook of data analysis, London: SAGE.
Lewis-Beck, M S, 1995, Data analysis: an introduction. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Nolan, B, 1994, Data analysis: an introduction, Cambridge; Oxford; Cambridge (MA): Polity Press.
RoucÌŒek, J. S, 1970, Juvenile delinquency, Freeport, N.Y., Books for Libraries Press.